The present disclosure relates generally to monitoring systems and, more particularly, to methods and systems for use in monitoring a heart rate and/or a blood flow rate of an occupant of a vehicle.
At least some known vehicles include a plurality of sensors that may be used to detect a heart rate. For example, at least some known vehicles include an alarm device that provides a signal that is indicative of a driver's excitement, exhaustion, stress, and/or drowsiness. However, at least some known heart rate detections have a low signal-to-noise ratio because the heart rate signal may be relatively weak and/or because the environmental noise may be relatively high.
For example, at least one known monitoring system includes a steering wheel, a first sensor positioned at the ten o'clock position of the steering wheel, and a second sensor positioned at the two o'clock position of the steering wheel. In such a system, the heart rate signal may be relatively weak when a driver's hands are moved away from the ten and two o'clock positions. To facilitate continuously detecting the driver's heart rate, another known monitoring system includes a sensor positioned on a driver's seat. In such a system, the environmental noise may be relatively high because different clothing types and/or clothing layering may require a different tuned circuit to obtain a desired waveform. As such, the benefits and/or uses of known vehicle monitoring systems may be limited.